


(you and i) we'll be young forever

by lightningcanary



Category: Blindspot (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, Underage Drinking, a lot of friendships - Freeform, literally every character - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-18
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2019-03-20 19:15:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13724238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lightningcanary/pseuds/lightningcanary
Summary: the high school AU no one asked for





	1. i wear sneakers

**Author's Note:**

> helloooo, you could ask why am I writing a new thing instead of finishing the soulmates AU? yeah, idk either. BUT I'm pretty excited about this... anyway, I'd say this is an introduction but its WAY too long and i never write that much so... lets just call it chapter one.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this!

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Bee--_

Patterson hits the alarm, interrupting its annoying sound. With a groan, she hides under the pillow to protect her eyes from the sunlight that gets into her room through the windows.

She doesn't want to get up. Not today.

It's the first day back to school. Her second to last year of high school. It's not like she hates going to class... She doesn't. She actually loves it, and she loves her friends, and she misses them. It's everything else. It's the mean girls. It's the popular guys. It's the people making fun of her because she knows stuff. Or the awkward situations when she's stuck with those people in group essays. She dreads that part, so she stays for a little bit longer in bed.

Eventually, she has to get up. She rushes downstairs to find out the house is already empty. Her breakfast is on the table and, next to it, there's a box with lunch and a note.

**We'll be home late tonight. There's eggs in the fridge.  
** Love,  
Mom. 

_Great._ First day back and she also has to make dinner... Well, at least she won't have to hear her parents fight about her brother while she just wants to play her video game.

Patterson looks up at the kitchen's clock. _Shoot._ She can't be late the first day!

She eats her breakfast in record time, takes her lunch and runs out of the house, on her way to hel-- um... school.

\-----

She, somehow, arrives on time. And not, like, right before going in, no, she arrives ten minutes early.

It takes her a while to find her friends in the crowded hallway. The first thing she notices is a large group of girls surrounding someone. It's not hard to guess who when she sees three of the four stars of the soccer team next to them.

Edgar Reade, left winger. He's standing tall, watching the scene with his usual bright smile.

Next to him, Kurt Weller, right winger. Scowling about something and seemingly trying to get the girls to leave.

To his other side, Allie Knight, goalkeeper. She's switching between looking at him and at the person surrounded by girls, smirk fixed on her face.

And in the middle of the horde, Tasha Zapata, center forward, captain of the soccer team, the girl every guy either hates or admires, the girl every girl either wants to date or wants to be. So that's probably why all those girls are there... that or the fact that the summer made her even prettier. Or how hot she looks in a simple leather jacket, jeans and a black tank top, with her hair in a ponytail and her smile wide as she talks with a tall redhead.

Not that Patterson is looking at her. Or likes her. Or anything...

Except she _is_ looking at her. And, suddenly, the brunette's gaze shifts, while the redhead still talks to her, and her deep brown eyes are connected to Patterson's blue ones. Patterson instantly looks away as a deep blush covers her cheeks.

And that's when she sees David moving towards her with a big grin on his face. She smiles back, hoping her blush is not as noticeable as she knows it is and that he didn't see who she was looking at. "Hey, little gnome."

She scoffs. "I'm only an inch smaller than you."

His grin widens. "But you're also younger."

"By a month!"

David is her best friend. He has been her best friend... for as long as she can remember. It's understandable, he lives two houses away from hers and was the only kid in the street apart from her and her brother. They did everything together, they had practically the same hobbies and liked the same movies, music, video games... The adults always told them they would end up getting together, which always disgusted them, but everyone told them when they were older they'd think differently. But they didn't. They are like siblings. She actually sees David more as a brother than she sees her actual brother.

"You didn't wait for me to come." He says, with a fake pout.

"I was running late, I thought you'd be here already." She explains.

He raises an eyebrow. "You... were late?" He asks like he can't believe it. He puts a hand on her shoulder. "You are human?"

Before she can answer, a loud high pitched voice calls "Patsy Patt! Way Wagner!"

Rich. Probably with Boston, too. Rich and Boston are her other two friends. She loves them, really, but they can both be very annoying. For very different reasons, but the same level of annoying. Rich is too loud and loves embarrassing her. And Boston just enjoys being right. When he found out he's better at art history than she is, he didn't let go of the subject for three weeks. It's not that she has to be better at everything... but _three freaking weeks._

"Why are we friends with him, again?" David groans.

Patterson feels a blush make its way back to her face as she turns around to face the other two boys. She notices that the group of girls has dissipated and the soccer players are now alone. Again, not that she's looking.

"Hi, Rich. And Boston." She smiles embarrassedly. "How was your summer in Amsterdam?" Boston's parents had a congress in the city and the guys tagged along for the holidays.

"Oh, it was amazing! The city is gorgeous and we went to a few museums--" Boston's excitement gets interrupted by the bell that announces they have to go to their first class.

With a sigh, they all walk to their first class. They separate as Patterson enters her English class and the guys keep walking to their respective classes.

Patterson takes a seat in the front row and observes the room. It's still practically empty, except for the back rows. Weller is sitting in the second to last and Allie is sitting behind him. The seat next to her seems to be occupied too. And they are both looking at the door, where Zapata is... kissing a girl.

She says goodbye to the girl as other students enter the room and turns around to her friends, who, judging by Zapata's reaction, are looking at her curiously. "What?" She asks them, laughing a little.

As she moves to her seat, her gaze falls on Patterson again. This time, the blonde doesn't look away.

"Nothing," sounds Allie's voice, tearing Zapata's attention away from Patterson.

Patterson goes back to looking around the room in time to see a few members of the football team getting in. Parker, Devon and Robert Borden, she thinks are their names. The last one sees her and smiles brightly, changing his path to approach her.

"Hey, beautiful." He says when he reaches her.

"H-hi..." she answers nervously. Why is he talking to her? She's a nerd and he's a jock. A popular one. Maybe not as popular as the soccer players, but still...

"How has your summer been?" He asks, grin wide and alluring.

"Um. Yeah. It's been... great."

"Tasha, are you paying attention?" Patterson's attention shifts at Weller's loud, deep voice. She sees Zapata's head turn towards him, scowl on her face, before Borden speaks again.

"That's good." He's quiet for a few seconds before his smile turns into a smirk. "Look, I was wondering--"

He's interrupted by Mrs Mayfair - English teacher and high school principal - coming into the class. After her, Ms Briggs - PE teacher, coach of the football team, Patterson's worst nightmare - enters, leading a boy and a girl their age, that Patterson doesn't recognise, in with her.

"Talk later." Borden winks. And then he leaves to take a seat before Parker and Devon.

"Good morning, guys." Mrs Mayfair says once the students are quiet. "And welcome back." A few groans follow her words. "This year is important for your future, so make sure you give it your best." A few more reactions from the students can be heard. "As you can see, we have two new students, " she says pointing at the kids.

"Jane and Roman Briggs," the other woman intervenes, her voice threatening as usual while she introduces her daughter and son.

"Make sure you make them feel welcome," Mayfair adds before looking at the free seats and then turning towards the new students. "You can take a seat next to Patterson," she tells them pointing to the girl, "Kurt," she points towards him, "or Robert," she points at the boy.

Ms Briggs holds her kids, looking at the three possible seats and making a decision. She silently tells them where they have to sit and Roman moves towards Borden, while Jane moves towards Patterson. She hears a huff from the back of the room, followed by a small laugh from the girls that sit behind Weller.

The new girl sits next to Patterson and smiles shyly. "Hi, I'm Jane."

Patterson smiles back. "Patterson."

\-----

"So, how is it that you weren't coming to this school until this year? You know, being Ms Briggs' daughter and all..." Patterson asks Jane during their first break.

"We were already in high school when we were adopted and we didn't want to leave. This year, though, Shepherd said that the professors here are better." Jane explains.

"You call your mom 'Shepherd'?" David questions, getting tired of the Rubik's cube he stole from Patterson and giving it back to her. Jane's response is just a shrug.

"I've heard that's also what the football team calls her." Boston intervenes, looking up from the napkin he's using as a canvas.

"For real?" Rich says. "Is that some kind of kin--"

"Hi." Weller interrupts him, appearing out of nowhere.

Rich turns around, mouth and eyes wide open. The thing is Rich has always been a huge soccer fan. Except he hates soccer. He just likes Weller. A lot. (Boston hates him.) The soccer matches are where Rich and Patterson started to really bond, not being big fans of sports but being "forced" (by gorgeous wingers and center midfielder brothers) to be there although they didn't understand a thing - at first, eventually Patterson got tired of not being able to concentrate on her homework and started paying attention to the game, she kind of likes it now.

"He-hello," Rich stutters, but Weller's gaze is fixed on Jane.

"I'm Kurt Weller," he says, smiling at her.

Behind him, Reade, Knight and Zapata are watching, amused. Tasha looks around at the rest of the group, her eyes stopping once again on Patterson and she smiles softly. Patterson looks down at the cube - not that she was looking - and starts scrambling it as a blush makes its way up her neck. _Man, why does this keep happening today? What's going on?_

She fixes her eyes on the cube, unable to hear anything but the loud beating of her heart. Why is her heart beating so fast?!

She scrambles and unscrambles the cube a few times, each of them faster than the previous one, until her heart slows down, and sound comes back. When she looks up, Zapata is looking at the cube in her hands in awe. She looks up to Patterson's eyes and the girl feels her blush deepen but this time, she doesn't look away.

Suddenly, Zapata jumps and turns around. Right behind her, is Borden, hand on her shoulder and followed by Devon, Parker and Jane's brother. "Hey, losers."

Reade huffs. "Losers? We haven't lost a game since Zapata became captain." He defends his team, while the other three glare at the football player. "You on the other hand..."

Borden seethes. "Well... maybe if you played a hard sport..." he says weakly. Even though it's weak, Patterson sees Zapata's hand curl up into a fist. "Anyway. I'm not here for you." He adds, walking past Zapata and the rest and towards Patterson. Zapata's fist clenches.

"Let's go," Patterson hears Allie say. And from the corner of her eyes, she sees them leave.

"Hi again," Borden grins at her.

"Hey..."

"Earlier I wanted to ask you something. Do you wanna go see a movie on Friday?"

Her eyebrows rise. "Um... I-ah. I can't."

"Oh." His smile falls. "Well, maybe another time..." he adds, tone slightly questioning. She gives a small smile. "I have to go now, see you." He winks at her, again.

Once he's gone, Rich shakes his head. "I can't believe you just said no to a date with Robert Borden. I mean, I know he's not Weller," Boston rolls his eyes, "but... have you seen his smile?? What's wrong with you?"

"I just. I don't know. I didn't expect it..." she tries to explain. She freaked out, basically. Not only is the football player asking her out, but the soccer captain has smiled at her more than once in one day and she's pretty sure neither of them had ever acknowledged her existence. It's... weird.

David is looking at her weird, but the bell rings again before he can say anything. Afterwards, when he asks, she tells him she's fine, just confused.

The rest of the week and the next week go by similarly. Borden approaches her, with his radiant smile, says hi, winks. (He asked her out two more times, and she found an excuse both times.) She sees Zapata flirting with some girl. She avoids her. (Which is getting hard because Weller is all over Jane, who is beside her most of the time.)

It's during the third week, that Mrs Mayfair announces a group project about English literature, "for the end of October. Make groups of four or five."

Patterson sighs. She hates group projects. And her friends are not in this class. So she's gonna be stuck with people she doesn't know and that probably don't like the subject, _great._ At least she has Jane.

She looks around to see the groups that are forming, to see who is more likely to end up with them. A group has formed in the middle, a few people are looking around too, searching for others. At the back, Borden and Roman seem to be arguing about something, while at the other side, Weller is getting up and... moving towards them - _oh no_ , she didn't think about _that_.

"Hey, girls," he smiles. "We are three," he says, pointing at his friends. "Do you wanna join us?"

Jane looks at her, questioningly. She doesn't answer, doesn't know what she'd say either. Jane decides for them. "Sure."

Oh, no.

_No no no no no._


	2. not only you and me

As it turns out, being stuck in a literature group project with three of the members of the soccer team is not as bad as Patterson expected. Apparently, they actually are interested in doing it. Well, as interested as a teenager can be in writing an essay on English literature.

The only problem is their schedule is a lot more complicated than non-soccer players. Which shouldn't surprise her, since her brother used to be in the team...

So, that's why she's at the school's field on a Thursday at 6 pm, next to her newly acquired friend, waiting for the other three components of their group to finish training.

There's a few more people there: a blonde girl that she's pretty sure was in her brother's class; the captain of the cheerleaders, Brianna, followed by two other cheerleaders that she can't remember the names of; and three younger kids that seem to be enjoying the training a lot more than any of them.

Once, Mr Keaton - their coach - tells them the training is over, the whole team leaves to the showers. The three kids leave while the other girls stay.

After a while, the players start getting out of the locker room. The first few leave as soon as they are out. The next one is greeted by one of the other cheerleaders and they leave together. Then, Reade gets out and approaches the blonde girl, he pecks her and they hug, but they don't leave, they keep waiting. After that, some others get out and leave. And then, Knight and Zapata exit together. While Knight approaches Patterson and Jane and tells them they just have to wait for Kurt now, Zapata goes towards Brianna, who practically jumps into her arms and greets her with a kiss, followed by another one, and another, and- we get it, Brianna! Thinking about it, Patterson thinks she has seen them together before.

"Hi, baby," Patterson hears Brianna say.

"Hi," Zapata replies softly.

"Do you wanna go out today? My parents aren't home, so I thought we could watch a movie, or--"

"I can't," Zapata cuts her off. "I have to do that literature project..."

That's when Patterson realizes she shouldn't be listening to a private conversation, so she tries to focus on something else, anything. The grass is very interesting, or the sky, those clouds are great. Her phone. Her phone should do. Except she can still hear them.

"I'll call you later, okay? I'm sorry..."

Thankfully, Weller finally appears so Zapata says goodbye to Brianna and meets them.

"Alright, we're all here. Let's go," Weller says, leading the four girls behind him. Reade and the blonde girl follow them too. "Oh, wait, you don't know my sister," Weller stops on his track, talking to Jane, mainly. "Sarah, this Jane. Jane, Sarah," he says pointing at the blonde girl and at Jane.

"Nice to meet you."

"You too."

Patterson clears her throat, making Weller remember she's there too. "Oh, sorry. And this is... Patterson, right?" he says, unsure.

"Yeah..."

"As in James Patterson's little sister?" Sarah asks as the continue walking. Patterson feels herself blush and nods. "He was in some of my classes." Patterson smiles, proud of having recognized the girl.

"Wait, James center midfielder Patterson?" Zapata asks. "He was my best midfielder... His replacement is terrible..." she continues.

"Yeah, that's my brother," Patterson replies, giving a nervous smile.

"How is he?" Zapata asks her.

Patterson's heart beats faster. She's pretty sure it's the first time the girl talks directly to her. "Um, h-he's... good. Getting in trouble, as usual..." she gulps down.

"We're here," Weller exclaims when they reach a big black car.

They all get in and Sarah drives them to the Weller household. Once inside, Sarah and Reade disappear up the stairs while the rest of them are guided by Weller through the house, into a huge room full of books. "My mom adores reading," he explains.

They sit down and start working on their project.

After a few hours, Knight complaints about being hungry and Weller suggests they all have dinner together, and Patterson is pretty hungry herself, so she won't complain about it.

They have the food and the table ready and have convinced Sarah and Reade to join them when Zapata's phone starts vibrating repeatedly. She checks it out and her face falls. She sighs. "Fuck," she mumbles. "I have to go," she tells the group, sounding upset, Patterson thinks.

"Is everything alright?" Jane asks.

"Yeah, it's just... family stuff," she says unconvinced, forcing a smile.

Knight looks at her concerned. "Do you want me to go with you?"

Zapata seems to feel relieved at the suggestion. "Yeah."

Patterson looks curiously and a bit worried at the two girls as they leave the house.

And that's how she finds herself in a strange house feeling like a fifth wheel. Because now she's alone with the established couple and the potential couple. And she has never wanted to leave a place as bad as she wants to now.

Dang, she was kind of having a good time!

\---

This must be her unlucky year. Why? Well, apparently it's the year of do everything in groups or pairs. First it was English, but, in the span of one week, she's been assigned two other work partners. And on top of that, since David got a girlfriend during the summer, the partners are Borden (in physics) and Zapata (in IT), and she kind of wants to die.

Sure, the group project wasn't that bad and she actually had a good time the two times they met up to work on it. It's almost finished too, which she would have never expected, being a few weeks before the limit date. But this is being alone, with the captains of the football and the soccer teams, having to actually talk, and - in his case - being flirted with, which she's slightly starting to like, but she would never admit it. He's cute, okay? Don't judge her.

So, yeah, this year is her unlucky year.

\---

She doesn't know how this happened but Jane, David and her (Rich, Boston and David's girlfriend, Anna, had a music test) are, during the lunch break, in the school's field, having lunch with the soccer team and a few cheerleaders. And by the soccer team, she means Weller, Reade, Knight - who has told her to call her Allie but she always forgets - and Zapata. And by a few cheerleaders, she means Brianna, who's practically on her girlfriend's lap.

Actually she knows exactly how it happened. It was Weller's doing. He approached them after their last class and practically dragged them with him.

"This is weird," David whispers in her ear.

He hasn't spent as much time with them as she has lately, so it makes sense he feels that way. She actually feels that way too, but that's probably just her being awkward.

"So, Jane, tell us more about yourself," Weller asks.

"Kurt, we know more about her than we know about you by now," Knig-- Allie jokes. Because it's true, he's asked her so many things that it's like they have known her forever.

They all laugh, except Weller, who glares at the girl before looking back at Jane. "Whatever. Where were you born?"

"Hasn't he asked that already?" Reade asks, leaning towards Zapata.

"Like seven times."

"South Africa, but I don't remember much from there. Almost all my memories are from New York."

Before Weller can ask another question they all already know the answer to, Kni-- ALLIE intervenes. "I have a question. It's not for you, Jane, don't worry. You can rest." Jane laughs while Allie smirks at her and Weller frowns. Everyone else watches the scene in amusement. "Patterson," she starts, putting everyone's attention on the blonde, except Brianna's, who's too busy drawing circles in Zapata's wrist; and making her feel a bit anxious. "What's going on between you and Borden?" she finally asks.

Patterson feels a deep blush rapidly making its way to her cheeks. She looks around to find everyone looking at her curiously, Zapata looks a bit mad, because she and Borden hate each other, she guesses. "Uh... I, ah--"

Before she can answer (she has no idea what), they hear a screech coming from the other end of the field. They all look towards the sound and see Rich, Boston and Anna approaching them.

"Hey! How did the test go?" David asks them once they are close enough.

Anna sits next to him and shrugs. "Not too bad."

"It was horrible," Rich says instead, sitting next to Weller.

"Don't listen to him, he probably aced it," Boston says, slightly glaring at Weller.

Now that they are all there, Patterson takes a look at how they are sitting. In front of her there's Allie, sitting next to Jane, who's sitting next to Weller, who's now sitting next to Rich, and next to him Boston. On her side of the circle...ish, Anna, David, her, Zapata, Brianna and Reade. Thinking about it, she thinks it's a good setting, because she has only looked at Zapata like two times, which actually means she hasn't talked much, which probably means she's been entertained by her girlfriend. Not that Patterson cares.

"Oh," Weller seems to remember something, tearing Patterson's attention back to him and not the girl next to her. "there's a party next Saturday after our game, you should come!" he says, only looking at Jane. Realizing what he's doing, he adds "all of you should."

"You guys should come to the game," Zapata adds, looking at Weller with her eyebrows raised.

"Yeah, that too..."

\---

"So, Patterson," Borden says during their physics lab, gorgeous grin in place, making her smile. "Let's go watch a movie this Saturday."

She's about to say yes when she remembers. "Oh, I can't... I said I'd go to the soccer game and the party afterwards. Sorry," she says.

"Soccer? Seriously?"

She shrugs, feeling a bit self-conscious. She knows he plays football and there's a rivalry between the two teams, but she does like soccer. It's more skill and less being aggressive. "I said I'd go."

"Well, okay..." he says. "You can text me when you get bored," he adds with a wink.

She smiles at him, although the comment made her a little uncomfortable.

\---

It's Friday after lunch break, aka IT class, aka the class where she's paired up with Zapata. She doesn't know why that makes her so anxious, but it does, and she's early, and she wishes she was capable of skipping class. If only this wasn't her favourite class... Not that she would skip any other class...

Anyway, being early is what is making her overthink and it's increasing her anxiety, which she thinks comes from the fact that they have never had an actual conversation, and her brain is going through all the dumb things she could say that would make Zapata think she's a loser, and since when does she care about that??

Patterson buries her face between her arms over the desk in front of her and groans.

Luckily, the rest of students start to enter the class, followed by their teacher Ms Kamal - the teacher every student has a crush on (and, rumour has it, so do some other teachers). Zapata, though, is nowhere to be seen.

It's a few minutes into the class, when everyone has started their assignments for the day, that the captain of the soccer team gets into the class. She speaks with Ms Kamal and then sits next to Patterson, huffing and rubbing her eyes. "Sorry I'm late," she apologies, sounding frustrated.

Patterson shakes her head. "It's fine. Are you okay?" she asks, concerned.

"Yeah," she says with a tiny smile on her lips, not looking really okay. "It's just... The new midfielder, Cade, the guy that is replacing your brother," she points out. Patterson feels herself smile at the fact that she remembers. "He's a mess. It's like he has two left feet. And the game is tomorrow!" she huffs again.

"Hey," she says, putting a hand on the girl's arm. Zapata looks at the hand for a few seconds before settling for Patterson's eyes. "It'll go great. You're the best team, even if one of your players is terrible. You've got an amazing goalkeeper, your defense is great and you've got a perfect trio on the attack." she says, confidently. By the end of her encouraging words, Zapata is looking at her with a soft smile.

"I didn't know you knew that much about soccer and the team."

Patterson blushes and looks away, taking her hand away with her. "My brother made me go to all your games the last two years," she explains. "I ended up paying attention," she adds, with a shrug.

"How come I never saw you?" Zapata asks in a whisper, sounding more like a question to herself than to the blonde.

"Oh and I have to say, the team got a lot better last year when you took the captain position," she says, awkwardly, blush deepening.

"Thanks," Zapata says slowly, looking up and down at her face with a smile stuck on her lips. Patterson turns around towards her and they keep eye contact for a few seconds. Patterson feels her heart race while the rest of the world seems to disappear. She feels so enticed by the girl. She doesn't know what's going on, she's entranced. Suddenly, Zapata clears her throat and looks away, bringing Patterson back to reality as they get back to the IT assignments.

\---

Zapata was right. The midfielder is terrible. Apparently, he used to play football so he's having a bit of a hard time getting into the new sport. He tries, though.

And she was right too, even if Cade is bad, the rest of the team is doing an amazing job, and they are winning the match. Maybe not as easily as they could, but they are still better than the other team. The other team has only scored one time, thanks to Allie, while they - Zapata - have scored three times.

Patterson is on the bleachers with all her friends, watching the game, and she's enjoying it more than ever. Rich won't stop talking about how good Weller is. Patterson can't help but think that while, yeah, he's great, he's got nothing on Tasha. Boston is not paying any attention, focused on a drawing he started the day before. David keeps asking her the rules of the game, but at least he's trying to learn. And Jane is cheering whenever someone she knows does something right. Patterson notices that she cheers louder when it's Weller, but also when it's Allie.

Every time Zapata scores, she looks towards the cheerleaders and points at her girlfriend, dedicating it to her. For some reason, it makes Patterson feel uncomfortable.

By the end of the game, they have scored 6 times (5 Zapata and 1 Reade), and the other team has scored twice. Obviously, the team is ecstatic.

\---

Patterson didn't realize she had accepted going to a party until she was there. A party full of people. The thing she dreaded the most. Not because she didn't like them. More like, because she hadn't been to many of these parties before, but the one she attended was horrible. She did not enjoy it one bit. Then again, back then her friends weren't there and the soccer players didn't even know her name. But even if they are now kind of, very kind of, friends, she doesn't know what's gonna happen, and that alone is enough to make her anxious.

Once they are in the house the party is in, Rich drags Boston to the zone that got turned into a dance floor. Jane disappears, probably with Weller, she guesses. And David and Anna find a seat on a sofa. Patterson considers going with them but they are all over each other and she doesn't think she wants to be near them.

She takes a deep breath and decides to take a drink before choosing what to do.

Sje tries to get a drink with practically no alcohol, but the guy that has self-proclaimed himself bartender, and that is too drunk considering the party was only starting, insists she can't leave until she lets him add more alcohol in her drink.

"Randy, let her be," Zapata's voice says from behind Patterson. She turns towards her.

The guy straightens. "Oh come on, Tash, what's a party without booze?"

"I think you're drunk enough to make up for a few non-drinkers," she tells him, sarcastically. 

"Whatever," he huffs before moving to another person.

"Sorry about him," Zapata tells her apologetically after focusing on her.

"Oh, it's alright," she answers. Zapata smiles at her. She bites her lips nervously, not knowing how to fill the awkward silence that is starting to form between them. "Um," she clears her throat. "Congrats. On winning the game, I mean. You were awesome. All of you. The team. Well, except that midfielder. You were right, he was bad," Patterson rambles. "But anyway, yeah, it was great and so much fun. Thanks for inviting us."

Zapata watches her, amused. "I'm glad you enjoyed it," she says, putting her left hand on Patterson's arm and squeezing. "It's nice meeting someone that likes soccer and science, and not like because they like one of the players, you know?"

Patterson's mouth is slightly opened, not expecting the touch or the comment. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, I get it," she says, smiling.

Tasha's own smile widens and her mouth is opening to say something when Brianna appears behind her and wraps her arms around her shoulder to give her a hug. Patterson's smile falls while Zapata looks surprised. She kisses her cheek and says "Hey, honey, you looked so hot today."

Zapata looks at Patterson for a moment, before turning her head around to look at her girlfriend. "Yeah?" she asks, raising an eyebrow. Instead of answering, Brianna brings her lips to hers and kisses her deeply. And that's when Patterson decides to look away.

After a few seconds, she looks at them again and they are still kissing. "Yeah. Okay. I'm gonna..." she mumbles while leaving.

\---

She ends up sitting with David and Anna. Luckily, they stopped making out and are talking to her instead.

"And Patterson, is there anyone you like?" Anna asks, mischievous smile on her lips. David looks at Patterson curiously.

"Wha... I... I don't know...?" She knows she's blushing. This is being the weirdest year. Starting with the fact that Borden has asked her out like ten times and she's almost said yes in the last three, continuing with the four new kind of friends she made and finishing with David getting a girlfriend. Every one of those things has been messing with Patterson's head and she has been avoiding thinking about any of it. Thinking about dating. Wondering how to answer the question, her eyes fall on Zapata, who's near the door, smirking while she talks to Allie. Before she can look away, the door opens and some members of the football team barge in, Borden, Roman and Devon, between them.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Allie asks them, angrily.

"See, darling? We were invited," Devon tells her, smirk in position, before winking at Zapata, who looks unimpressed.

"Really? By whom?" She sounds unimpressed too.

"Hey, Randy!" Borden waves at the guy that tried to spike her drink earlier.

Zapata rolls her eyes. "Whatever..."

"This is a party, right? Can't we all have some fun together?" an unnamed boy asks.

She sighs. "Sure. As long as you don't cause any trouble..."

"Sir, yes, sir," Borden salutes before moving away from the door and towards Patterson, grin growing as he gets closer. Zapata glares at him as he leaves.

"Hi, beautiful," he greets her.

"Hi," she smiles a little.

"Mind if I join you once I have a drink?" he asks, pointing towards the made-up bar.

She shrugs and he smiles smugly while he leaves.

"Uh. I guess that answers the question..." Anna says.

Patterson blushes again while David looks at the guy, thinking deeply. "He seems nice."

"Who seems nice?" Jane appears behind her.

"Patterson's boyfriend."

"No one."

"Boyfriend??"

"He's not my--"

"Hey, guys," Allie interrupts her, coming from her place near the door. "we're starting a game of truth and dare, come join us!"

Patterson is about to protest when Borden comes back. "Ohhh," he says, "I love that game."

And that's how she finds herself in a circle of people ready to play truth or dare. There's a few people she doesn't recognize, but there's also all her friends in it so maybe it won't be as bad. Hopefully.

Borden is sitting next to her and has an arm around her shoulder, which took her by surprise but is kind of comforting?

"Okay, so in case someone doesn't know the rules: we spin the bottle, whoever it lands on has to choose between truth and dare, if you refuse to answer or do the dare, you have to drink. Afterwards, you spin the bottle and pick the next person's question or dare," Allie explains. "Alright, we can start now." She spins the bottle. It lands on Reade.

"Oh, man..." 

"Edgar, truth or dare?" Allie asks, smirk in place.

"Edgar? Really?" he asks, looking at Allie in disbelief. "Truth," he says, rolling his eyes. 

"Coward," Zapata mutters. He glares at her and she smiles innocently.

"Is it true that you can't sleep without your baby blanket?" Knight asks.

His gaze immediately falls back on Zapata. "I told you that in confidence, Tasha!!" She looks at him sheepishly.

"Answer the question, Reade."

"Yeah," he mumbles defeated, with a sigh. And them moves to spin the bottle. "I'm gonna get my revenge, Zapata," he adds, looking at the bottle intensely, as if he's trying to make it stop where he wants. When it stops, it's on Roman. He huffs and Zapata laughs. Patterson watches them amused. He looks at Zapata. "Don't think you're safe so fast. Roman," he looks at the boy. "Truth or dare?" 

"Dare." 

"I dare you to kiss Zapata," he says, smiling triumphantly at the girl.

Zapata's eyes go wide, her mouth agape. Brianna stirs. "No!" the cheerleader says.

"Come on, Bri, she's a lesbian, you have no reason to be jealous," Reade reasons. Zapata agrees, although she looks a bit sick.

Meanwhile, Roman looks hesitant. After their conversation, though, he seems to make a decision. He makes his way towards Zapata, whose whole face looks disgusted. She closes her eyes as hard as she can as he leans in and kisses her.

After he's broken the kiss and gone back to his sit, Zapata's eyes stay closed. Until she lets a breath go and opens them, shifting her gaze towards Reade. "I hate you."

The game keeps going. Roman asks Boston what his biggest fear is (being forgotten). Boston dares a guy Patterson doesn't know to jump into the pool (it's freezing cold), the guy drinks instead. He dares Weller to give Rich a lap dance. Weller drinks, much to Rich's disappointment. Weller asks Cade why he left the football team. He says he wasn't comfortable around people that didn't respect him. Borden huffs at the answer.

Cade spins the bottle and it lands on Jane. By this point, all of them are either tipsy or blatantly drunk. "Jane, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"Uh..." he thinks what to ask. The guy next to him whispers something in his ear, giggling a little. "I dare you to kiss whoever you like most in this room."

As expected by everyone, she kisses Weller. But then instead of going back to her seat, she walks towards Allie and kisses her too. Everyone, including Allie, is surprised. But she does kiss back.

Afterwards, she sits back and, seeing everyone watching her, she shrugs. "I couldn't choose."

She spins the bottle and it lands on Zapata. "Truth or dare?" she asks.

"Dare."

"I dare you to go on a date with whoever the bottle lands on next."

Brianna huffs. "Seriously? She has a girlfriend, remember??" she asks annoyed.

"It's not a real date, anyway. And there's more chances it's with a guy than with a girl," Allie arguments.

"Okay, I can do that," Zapata says ignoring them.

She moves to the center and makes the bottle spin. Suddenly, Patterson feels nervous. She doesn't know why, but she just has a feeling. And the bottle starts to slow down until it stops. Pointing at her. Her mouth slowly opens. She feels Borden's arm falls around her waist. She hears Brianna groan. Her own gaze is frozen on the bottle. Slowly, she looks up and finds Tasha's eyes. She's looking at her with caution.

Patterson take a deep breath and nods. "Okay." Borden's hold tightens.

"Are you sure?" Tasha asks her.

"Yeah, I don't mind."

"Right..." she says slowly. "Truth or dare?"

Patterson had forgotten that part. "Uh... T-truth?" she says unsure.

Zapata thinks a question for a while, biting her lip and looking down. When she finds one, she releases the lip and looks at her. "What's the lowest grade you've ever gotten?" she asks, smiling softly. Patterson releases a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"Oh come on, don't go so easy on her," Devon whines.

"A C in PE, but Ms Briggs hates me so I'm still proud of it."

"Sorry about my mom," Jane mutters. 

"Okay, other than that," Zapata says rolling her eyes.

"Uh... B+ in history."

Some rounds later, the bottle stops at Borden. He gets dared to do something he has been reluctant to do. And the next thing Patterson knows is that he turned her around and his lips are on hers. She gasps and he uses the opportunity to deepen the kiss. She can hardly contain the sound that wants to escape her throat at the contact. He breaks the kiss and whispers in her ear, "Be my girl."

And that's how she finds herself in a relationship with the football captain and (fake) date with the soccer captain. All in one night.


End file.
